


The Portrait

by soft_october



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Canon Compliant, M/M, Pre-Relationship, just two bros having a portrait done
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-22
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-09-24 08:40:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20355598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soft_october/pseuds/soft_october
Summary: It had been Crowley’s idea, the portrait. But so many things had been his idea, in those days, and so many hadn’t gone as planned. The sketch was no exception.Crowley takes Aziraphale to visit da Vinci's workshop, where he has a suprise planned.





	The Portrait

**Author's Note:**

> Based on [this post](https://fuckyeahgoodomens.tumblr.com/post/187194659009/part-2-of-the-ineffable-edition-goodies-portraits) I saw today which really went into the detail of Crowley and Aziraphale's renaissance portrait

It had been Crowley’s idea, the portrait. But so many things had been his idea, in those days, and so many hadn’t gone as planned. The sketch was no exception. 

“Signor Crowley!” The artist beams at them, welcoming. “And this must be the friend I have heard so much about.” Aziraphale whips his head around at that,  _ so much about? _ but Crowley’s expression is as unreadable behind those dark glasses as ever. 

Da Vinci’s workshop smells like any other artists’: turpentine and linseed oil layered over sawdust and sweat, but there is a sweeping undercurrent of passion and love only Aziraphale can feel, which squeezes around the angel’s heart like sunshine in the spring. Small wooden sculptures and gadgets are strewn about the space, along with notebooks, all written that strange mirrored way of his, covered in sketches and diagrams and plans. A student lingers in the back, though it is well past the time he should be off to the other tasks of his apprenticeship, working on a study of the same Mona Lisa whose sketch hangs in Crowley’s chambers, the one Aziraphale has such an admiration for. 

“Everything is prepared, Signor,” da Vinci continues, and again Azirapahle looks to Crowley. Prepared for what? Crowley had just shown up at his door and commandeered him for the remainder of the evening, and they set out through the streets of Florence, the blessing he was supposed to perform undone, and uncaring. “I don’t usually allow the sitting at the workshop, but who would I be to deny the wishes of a friend?” 

“It is much appreciated,” Crowley replies, and continues not to look at Aziraphale, and now the angel knows it’s deliberate. 

Da Vinci leads them to a small chamber off the main studio, where an easel has been prepared across from a small table. 

“I remembered the book, and the scroll, but what will you be holding?” da Vinci asks Crowley, who merely shakes his head. 

“It’s only a single,” he motions in Aziraphale’s direction. “Its for him.” 

Aziraphale is finally able to put two and two together, and he could not control the smile that bursts upon his face were Gabriel himself to suddenly appear before them. 

“Oh,  _ Crowley _ , you didn’t -” He sees the demon shiver, only for a moment. 

“Don’t be ridiculous, angel. How else am I supposed to get you to talk about anything else except get you one of your own?” But there is a purse of his lips, quietly pleased, and Aziraphale wonders if there is anyone else in the world who knows what it means.

“This is false modesty, Antonio,” da Vinci interrupts, casting a knowing look between them. “I am sure your… friend would be much happier with the both of you.” That word again, the emphasis on it, closes up Aziraphale’s heart as sure as a lid snapped shut.

“No,” he hears himself babbling. “We aren’t… we aren’t friends.” Crowley stills beside him and the angel is already regretting his words _stupid stupid_, envisioning the rest of the evening: a tense sitting, Crowley pretending it’s all fine, a tense goodbye. But then Leonardo da Vinci pauses for only a moment before throwing back his head and laughing. 

“Ah yes Signori, I quite understand,” the artist manages, eventually. So if it shall be just you I think the best posing would be-” Aziraphale reaches out, takes hold of Crowley’s sleeve.  _ Not the wrist, never the wrist, not where warm blood pounds so gently against the skin _

“Please,” he says, quietly. “It would… the both of us, I would like that.” 

Crowley stills in an entirely different way, and Aziraphale knows the demon is staring at him, can feel the yellow eyes on his own, searching for something Aziraphale refuses to name. 

“Alright, angel,” Crowley says, slowly, as if he’s savoring the weight of the words on his tongue. “Whatever you want.” 

He miracles himself an apple, of all things, because of  _ course _ he does, and they stand behind the table as da Vinci works, those clever eyes flicking there and back again from their tableau to the paper. They stray only when the student enters, to bring them wine. His eyes drift from the work, to watch as the young man leaves, and Aziraphale understands. 

His own eyes fall to the book that rests between them, their hands gently pressed against opposing sides. What would it be to close the space, to reach across, to - His fingers twitch in anticipation. 

No, he thinks, the same way he’s done since the beginning, since Eden, with no variation. 

Until today. 

Because what follows the ‘no’ is something new, something born out of the smell of the workshop, the apple, the smoke, the wine drifting through his senses, the charcoal which works to render their portraits, together and apart. It’s not a refusal, it’s not a rejection, not this time. 

It’s a promise, one he knows he is making somewhere deep within his soul, beyond his own comprehension, beyond where even heaven and God can reach. 

_ Not yet.  _

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Check out my other GO fics if you like (there's a healthy sampling of various AUs) and my Tumblr is [@soft-october-night](https://soft-october-night.tumblr.com/) if you'd like come by and say hello!


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